


Trapped in The Sandbox

by AchillesMonkey



Series: FitzSimmons Fics [5]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Clueless Fitz, F/M, FitzSimmons - Freeform, Fitzsimmons Secret Valentine, Flirty Jemma, game show
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-17
Updated: 2017-02-17
Packaged: 2018-09-25 05:45:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9805172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AchillesMonkey/pseuds/AchillesMonkey
Summary: When Mr. Coulson decides to send Daisy, Mack, Bobbi, Hunter, Jemma, and Fitz on a special episode of the game show Agents of Shield, Jemma decides it's the perfect opportunity to finally let her feelings be known.Written for The FitzSimmons Network Secret Valentine Exchange.Prompt: Fitzsimmons on some sort of ridiculous game show





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fitzsimmonshield (fitzsimmonsshield)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fitzsimmonsshield/gifts).



> Happy Valentine's Day, fitzsimmonsshield! Your prompt was definitely not in my fic writing comfort zone, but I appreciate the challenge, and I hope I did well.
> 
> Disclaimer: I've never been on a game show, or a television show, so I have no idea how accurate any of this is. I made this one up based on a British game show I recently discovered called The Crystal Maze.

**Location: The Sandbox**

**Local Time: Friday, 1:12pm**

Jemma stared around her at the dimly lit room. A giant wooden box filled with sand was in the middle of the room. Fitz was busy digging through it, muttering a steady stream of curses as he still wasn't able to find the shield buried within. She sighed and sat down with her back against the wall. They were trapped.

 

**Location: The Conference Room, Pleasant Hill Prosthetics**

**Local Time: Monday, 10:18am**

Jemma sipped at her tea as her supervisor, a middle-aged balding man, spoke about the company’s latest numbers. She and Fitz had already given their presentation about the newest features on their latest prosthetic and were just waiting around for the meeting to be over with so they could get back to work.

“-and finally,” Mr. Coulson announced, and Jemma sat up a bit straighter. “I've noticed that team morale has been a bit low lately, so I've decided to book everyone on a team building exercise!” He smiled at them all as Hunter and Daisy let out groans.

“What are we going to do, sir?” Mack asked.

“I've booked the six of you to take part in a special charity episode of the game show Agents of Shield.”

“Is that the one with the freaky identical brothers?” Hunter asked.

“Yes, the hosts are identical quadruplets along with their older sister,” Mr. Coulson answered.

Jemma raised her eyebrows at that and glanced at Fitz who didn’t look as nearly impressed as she thought he should. Mr. Coulson continued talking about the game show, but Jemma had already tuned him out. She’d seen Agents of Shield before, but didn’t know too much about it. What she did know was that sometimes members of the team were trapped together. Maybe she could find a way to get herself and Fitz trapped? Maybe it would be romantic, just the two of them, stuck in a room, nothing to do but talk? Maybe Fitz would finally admit what she hoped he felt about her?

“Hey, earth to Jemma!” Fitz’s voice and his hand waving in front of her face pulled her out of her daydream. “Let’s get back to work.”

 

**Location: Agents of Shield Green Room**

**Local Time: Friday, 10:30am**

It turned out that there was a lot of paperwork to go through in order to appear on a game show. Then they had to go through makeup and have their outfits approved. Hunter’s DAMN THE YANKS t-shirt had been deemed unacceptable, so he’d been forced to change into a bright green polo shirt. Jemma stuck close to Fitz throughout the proceedings. She’d made sure to dress a bit nicer than her usual lab wear, but he hadn’t seemed to notice. He was tugging anxiously on his lip as he watched Hunter argue with the costume designer.

“It’ll be fun, I think,” she said.

He turned to look at her. “Yeah?”

She nodded. “Yeah. The premise sounds fun, anyway.”

The point of the show was to send in two team members to complete a task in a specific amount of time. If the task was completed, you earned a shield. How many shields you had equaled the number of spins on the Prize Wheel in Providence. There were four sections to get through in order to reach Providence: The Playground, The Fridge, The Labyrinth, and The Sandbox. They went to each section in an order decided by the Koenig hosts, and their team captain—Daisy—would choose who completed the task in each section.

“Okay, everyone, listen up!” the director called out and Jemma turned her attention to listen, though her eyes never left Fitz.

 

**Location: The Fridge**

**Local Time: Friday, 11:37am**

“Oooh, I think Agent Johnson’s got it!” Sam Koenig commented to the camera.

Jemma, Fitz, Bobbi, and Hunter watched through viewing window as Daisy pulled the red, blue, and white shield out of the pie. The kitchen set—and Daisy and Mack themselves—was completely covered in various pie filling. They’d had to find the shield that had been baked into one of 30 pies in less than two minutes, and Daisy had succeeded with seconds to spare.

“Congratulations, Agents,” Sam told them as Daisy and Mack came out of the room. “You’ve won your first shield and therefore one spin of the Prize Wheel. We’ll let you go get cleaned up and then it’s time for you to meet Billy at The Playground!”

 

**Location: The Playground**

**Local Time: Friday, 12:23pm**

Jemma giggled gleefully as she watched Hunter get knocked in the stomach by a piece of spinning foam. He fell off the platform and landed in a kiddie pool filled with shaving cream. Fitz laughed as Hunter stood up, completely covered in shaving cream. Above him, Bobbi let out a triumphant yell as she reached the shield they were trying to get.

The two came out of the challenge room and Jemma reached for Fitz’s hand. It would be their turn next. He glanced at her and smiled as he squeezed her hand. “Ready to prove yourself?” he whispered.

“Always,” Jemma replied.

 

**Location: The Sandbox**

**Local Time: Friday, 1:06pm**

“All right, Agent Fitz and Agent Simmons, listen up,” LT Koenig ordered, looking sternly at them. “Shield number three is hidden inside The Sandbox. Your mission is to retrieve it in less than two minutes. If you fail, you will be locked in the challenge room until your team reaches Providence. Your team may release you from the challenge room, but the cost is one shield. Any questions?” Fitz and Jemma shook their head. “All right,” LT opened the door and they entered. “Your time starts . . . NOW!”

The door closed behind them with a loud bang and Fitz immediately ran over to the giant wooden structure in the middle of the room. “Hurry up, Simmons!” he cried as he began digging in the sand. Jemma moved to the opposite side of the sandbox and began to run her hands through the sand.

“You can do it, Turbo!” she heard Mack yell.

“Go Jemma!” Daisy cheered.

The timer on the wall grew steadily closer to zero. Fitz began swearing as the shield still failed to reveal itself. “TEN SECONDS!” she heard LT Koenig yell. They kept digging. “FIVE—FOUR—THREE—TWO—ONE—” a loud buzzer sounded and they heard a lock click. Koenig’s face appeared in the viewing window. “Agents Fitz and Simmons, you have failed your mission. Agent Johnson, as team captain, it’s up to you to decide if you want to release them now, or after you reach Providence. To release them now would mean giving up one of your shields.”

“Sorry, guys,” Daisy said, “but we only have two shields. I can’t give one up, especially not when there’s still one task left.”

“It’s okay, Daisy,” Fitz told her.

“We understand,” Jemma added.

 

**Location: The Sandbox**

**Local Time: Friday, 1:13pm**

“I don’t think the bloody thing’s in there at all,” Fitz commented, finally giving up his search and coming to sit next to Jemma. “I think they rigged it.”

“So what?” Jemma asked.

“So what?” Fitz repeated, sounding incredulous. “It’s not fair, is it?”

“No, but at least we’re together.”

“Yeah,” Fitz agreed, nudging Jemma’s shoulder with his own. “I’d rather be stuck with you than Hunter.” He sighed and fidgeted with his fingers. “So, what do you want to do?”

“We could make out,” Jemma suggested. She looked over to see Fitz’s reaction and was not disappointed. She’d never seen a literal deer in headlights, but she knew it must be pretty similar to Fitz’s current expression. He looked like his brain had frozen trying to comprehend her comment. “Fiiitz!” she sing-songed, poking him on his temple. “Do I need to turn you off and on again?”

“Jemma!” he squawked, and even in the dim light of the room, she could see the blush spreading over his face to the tips of his ears. “You can’t just say things like that!”

“Why not?”

“Because!” But he couldn’t seem to come up with any reasons why.

“I’d like to make out with you, Fitz,” Jemma told him, “and other things, beyond that.”

“You would?” Fitz sounded so confused.

“Yes, you idiot. Haven’t you noticed me flirting with you for the past year and a half?”

“Er—but I thought you liked what’s-his-face from PR?”

“Milton?” Jemma sighed and rolled her eyes. “Ugh, Fitz! Milton is the worst! How could you think I liked him and not you?”

“Well, you know, I’m not so good with the social cues,” Fitz said with a shrug.

“Then let me make it clear,” Jemma said, turning to face him. “I like you, Fitz. You are my best friend. I want to go on a date with you. I want to kiss you. Do you want to do any of those things with me?”

“Yes!” Fitz said quickly. “All of the above.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.”

The door to the challenge room opened and an assistant came in. “You guys don’t actually have to stay in here the whole time,” she told them. “You’ll have to pretend you did when it’s time to film the ending, but you can go wait in the green room. There are snacks and drinks in there. Feel free to help yourselves.”

“Thanks!” Fitz said, jumping up excitedly at the promise of snacks.

“So,” Jemma said, taking Fitz’s hand as they walked through the set to the green room, “about our date…”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, and thanks to all those who leave kudos and/or comments! I am unlessimwrongwhichyouknowimnot on Tumblr, feel free to check it out!


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